


The Lake House

by hell_dankmemes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Grief/Mourning, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Temporary Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-01-31 02:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hell_dankmemes/pseuds/hell_dankmemes
Summary: That night, under the cover of darkness, Peter snuck out from the guestroom with a folded sheet of paper clutched in his fist. His heightened senses allowed him to make the trek down to the mailbox easily. With shaking hands and a blotchy, tear stained face he shoved the paper inside, turned up the little flag and ran back to the lake house.Tony and Peter are living in separate points in time but that doesn't mean they can't still talk to each other.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 52
Kudos: 259





	1. The Funeral

**Tony, 2023**

"And I....am....Iron Man." 

Tony snapped his fingers. The combined energy of the infinity stones snaked out and in and around his gauntlet. They flared, their colours running down his arm and into his chest plate. Tony could feel his nano housing unit spark and overload. Then his whole body overloaded and the world turned orange. 

**Peter, 2023**

The funeral was a beautiful affair. Everyone who had been brought together by this legend of a man watched on as his old arc reactor floated across the cool mirror surface of the water. Peter held May's hand, anchored by her occasional squeezes. It was all so calm. Pepper had ensured everything was classy, tasteful and subdued. Everything Tony wasn't during his life. 

Peter remembered laughing with Tony about funerals once, while they ate fries at a burger joint in downtown Manhattan. Some celebrity death had been on the news. Peter couldn't even remember who, now. Tony had joked that his was all planned out and then proceeded to describe it in such hilariously meticulous detail that Peter had suspected some parts really weren't a joke at all. He'd wanted it to be an event that everyone could come to and have fun. He'd wanted a free memorial rock concert in the park and an enormous tiered cake. 

"It'll be decorated with black frosting. Just to keep things appropriate to the theme," he'd said. 

Peter had thought the idea of a giant Tony Stark hologram, dancing up on stage while everyone waved complimentary neon glow sticks sounded awesome. It was showy, sure, but it was also one hundred percent Tony Stark. Ultimately, Tony had wanted some kind of spectacle and he'd wanted Pepper right there, wailing and gnashing her teeth--his words.

Of course, Peter mused, that had been the old Tony. Pre-Blip. The speeches at the funeral talked about a steady, fatherly man. A stranger. It gave him a headache. Still, the funeral was a beautiful affair: calm, classy, tasteful and subdued. Just like Ben's. Just like his parents'. Peter considered stabbing his eye out with the program.

During the funeral Pepper had looked stunning despite her grief but, as the night wore on, Peter saw the cracks. He watched her knock back wine glass after wine glass of something that definitely wasn't wine. Others noticed too. Peter watched from the sidelines as Rhodey, all gentle concern, talked to her about pacing herself and then getting a face full angry Pepper, hissing at him to lay off the drink count. As she stumbled away from Rhodey and moved outside, Peter followed quietly. The house was really close to the water and he wanted to be there in case of any accidental falls. He had no intention of intruding. Others were not so subtle. It was pretty obvious to Peter that, along with Rhodey, Happy was also on Pepper watch for the night.

Peter remained in the shadows, as Happy placed an arm on Pepper's shoulder to steady her as she walked up the tiny pier. 

"Pepper, hey, It's been a long da-" Happy cut himself off as she batted his hand away and continued to stagger forward.

"Just leave me alone right now, okay? I'm fine. I'm fine," she slurred. Pepper gave a little giggle. "I've got protection." She slipped out the Iron Man nano housing unit, seemingly from her bra. Happy ignored her request and they stood at the edge of the pier together. 

Peter turned away to give them some privacy but his head snapped round when Pepper started to scream. It was a long wordless cry that carried across the lake and echoed back at them. In his absolute shock, Happy grabbed her arm and she turned on him. 

"You get your hands off me." 

There was a crowd now as everyone had rushed outside at the initial scream. Happy let go instantly, holding his hands up to try and placate her. Peter moved forward to join the crowd gathering at the other end of the pier. He found May who slipped an arm around his waist. Pepper was waving the housing unit at Happy and shouting.

"I'll put a pin in it. I'll put a pin in it and stop it once and for all, because he sure as hell never could, and look where he is, huh? Dropped at the bottom of the lake!"

The crowd parted for Rhodey who strode forward purposefully. Just as he reached them, Pepper swung her arm back and Happy ducked, anticipating a hit, but instead she pitched the housing unit out over the lake. It sailed in a wide arc before dropping with a plunk to join Tony's memorial wreath at the bottom. Pepper wobbled from the effort of her throw and as she opened her mouth to speak a retching burp emerged, followed by a spray of vomit right down the front of her designer dress. Pepper sank to her knees, looked up and gave everyone the finger.

It was so un-Pepper-like that Rhodey and Happy drew back in shock. Everyone else froze, unsure how to react. 

"Oh, for fucks sake." May barged past the two of them and knelt down next to the woman, pulling Pepper's hair out of her face as she gagged. She waved Peter over. 

"Let's get her to the bathroom. Come on." 

Peter sprang forward and, with May's additional but unnecessary support, scooped Pepper up easily into his arms. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Peter. I'm sorry. Your suit's ruined," Pepper mumbled into his shoulder. 

"You all hang back." May's voice brooked no argument as she followed Peter inside and into the main en suite.

Peter gently placed Pepper down onto the cool tile and leant her head against the toilet seat before stepping back, waiting for May's signal to leave the two women alone. Instead, she wet a hand towel at the sink and squat down to wipe Pepper's face. 

"Welcome to the first monthly meeting of the Swanky Widows Sisterhood," May joked softly. 

Pepper cringed down at her dress. 

"Oh God, look at me. I got smashed. I screamed at Happy and Rhodey and flipped everyone off and then I puked all over myself." She glanced back up at Peter who smiled, his eyes glassy from unshed tears.  
  
"I know. It was so perfect. That was just how Mr Stark would have wanted it."

Pepper gave him a lazy wink, leaned back over the bowl and threw up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the inspiration for chapters will come from the movie "The Lakehouse" but you might spot a scene here and there from something else. Feel free to play guess the hommage.


	2. Ralph

**Tony, 2021**

It had been an impulse buy. He'd been thinking of alien skies and dust under his nails and he had wanted to stop thinking about Peter for a just a goddamn second. Now, instead of imagining himself staring down at wide brown puppy eyes, he found himself actually staring down at wide brown puppy eyes. There were times Tony almost regretted buying the German Shepherd. 

Pepper had washed her hands of the whole fiasco right from the start, claiming that it was his dog to house train and therefore he was going to be the one to clean up all Ralph's messes. Tony couldn't argue with that. He still felt a little put out though, whenever Pepper curled up with the dog on the couch to read her book. She got all the benefits and none of the wiping up of pee. In those moments, Tony made sure to remind her that Morgan loved him at least 1000 more than her. Still, he enjoyed his daily walks with Ralph. Especially when Morgan would come along like she had today.

They followed the edge of the lake until they reached a small clearing with a wooden bench. Nearby stood a standard metal mailbox, painted gold. Instead of a house number on the front there was a sticker of Iron Man and on the side was the customary red flag that could be turned up to signal the box had mail. Tony sat down on the bench with a groan and let Ralph off his leash.

"Go on. Shoo. Go play. Both of you." Morgan raced the dog down to the water and giggled as Ralph splashed in the shallows.

Tony knew this was the closest he'd ever get to happy. He wished he could be truly content but the loss of Peter still gnawed at him. It crept up on him during moments of quiet, turning pleasant calm into an instant chasm of grief. He wiped away the stray tears that had once again escaped before looking back over to Morgan. She was playing in the water with something metal in her hand. 

"What have you got there, Missy? Come bring it over." Morgan stomped up to him, pouting at the interruption of her playtime. She held out her hand and presented him with his suit's nano housing unit. "Huh, I don't remember leaving that out for you to play with." There wasn't any real bite to his words though. Anything dangerous was strictly locked away and the nano housing unit was completely tamper-proof, responding only to him. Peter had taught Tony the futility of scolding, still, he made a token effort to instill some boundaries. For Pep's sake.

"What if you'd lost it, hmm?"

Morgan smiled cheekily up through her eyelashes. "Then, you would track it and find it."

"Well, yes, but just remember that not everything Daddy owns has a tracker built into it, okay?"

Morgan shrugged and dropped the housing unit into Tony's lap. "I don't need it anymore."

Tony pocketed the tech, stood and picked his daughter up, settling her on his hip.

"Oh, Madam Secretary's done with it now, is she?"

"Yes, because I'm not Madam Secretary. I'm a Queen." Morgan wriggled down from her father's grip and started skipping around him.

"And it's time for us to head back, Your Majesty," Tony replied. He let out a loud whistle. "Ralph," he called out, but when he looked around he couldn't find the dog. "Ralphy?"

He walked down closer to the water with Morgan in tow. Tony's heart rate picked up as a quick search of the area produced no signs of their pet. Ralph had disappeared.

"Maybe he's run home. We'll head back and I can start a proper search from there. Thankfully, Daddy's got a tracker in Ralph too." Tony took Morgan's hand and held on tightly as they walked back to the house.

**Peter, 2023**

"Who knew the Sisterhood of Swanky Widows would actually become a thing?" Peter laughed as he followed his aunt up the driveway to the lake house. Pepper and Morgan stood waiting in the doorway. May shook a bottle of wine at Pepper, who cheered.

"You're a good kid for doing this," May whispered to Peter before they reached the others.

"I don't mind," he said with a shrug. It was the truth. Babysitting Morgan was an excellent distraction from Thanos, the nightmares, Tony's dead eyes. He cut those thoughts off before they could go any further. When he was at the lake house, Morgan's incessant need for attention helped prevent any dark thoughts from reaching a conclusion. It was the only time Peter felt he could relax, secure in the knowledge that Morgan would manage to derail him every few minutes. Peter wondered if that was why Tony used to let him ramble on. Tony would nod or throw out the occasional "uh huh" as Peter stuttered out stories of him and his friends at school, as if it was something the billionaire actually cared about. Tony could be kind that way. 

When they reached the house, Pepper hugged May and Peter in turn. Morgan followed suit and after tucking the wine away safely for later, they sat down for lunch.

"I figured Morgan could show you Tony's favourite spot by the lake today," Pepper said between mouthfuls of potato salad. Morgan nodded, bouncing in her seat.

"Daddy called it the fairy spot. It has a mailbox for the elves."

Pepper smiled fondly. "One year, Morgan really wanted to post a letter to Santa a few days before Christmas but we weren't going to drive into town just for that, so Tony built her a special mailbox. Express mail straight to the elves, who'd then pass it on to Santa, of course."

"Of course," May laughed. She turned to Morgan. "Maybe you and Peter could write a letter to the elves together and post it."

Pepper gave a slight grimace. 

"The thing is, Tony used to check it regularly. To see if there was a _reply_ for Morgan," she said, putting emphasis on the word 'reply.' Peter caught on quick. 

"I'm sure I could also help Morgan check for elf mail."

"Elven mail," Morgan mumbled around the fork in her mouth.

Pepper gave him a smile. "That sounds like a plan. What do you think Morgan?"

During the exchange, Morgan had stared at her mother and then Peter like they'd both grown extra heads. She nodded at the question however, before turning all of her attention back to her chicken nuggets. Peter allowed the the rest of the conversation to wash over him, it was mostly boring work gossip, and instead he thought about what to write in a letter that Morgan might enjoy.

After lunch, Morgan took him down to edge of the lake and together they walked along the shore. She ran ahead, throwing pebbles and occasionally doubling back to give Peter a thumbs up and a smile or to present him with the extraordinary discovery of a pretty leaf or rock. They soon reached the mailbox and Peter pulled out a notepad and pen from the pocket of his hoodie before sitting down next to Morgan on the bench. He held them out to her.

"So, what do you want to write to the elves?"

Morgan gave him the same look that she had at lunch.

"I only sent a letter to Santa that one time. I figured out he wasn't real after that." She pointed to her puffed out chest and declared proudly, "I'm no sucker!"   
Peter couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, but your mom said you were always writing letters and waiting on the replies."

"No," Morgan said with a shake of her head. "That was Dad. He was always writing letters and then coming back. Sometimes I was with him but they weren't for me."

Peter frowned confused. "Did you ever see his letters?" he asked.

"No. He didn't show me. He said they were letters to you and to keep it secret but I don't think it needs to be secret from you. The letters were for you."

Peter gulped and tried to hold back the tears. It must have been some kind of coping mechanism. It made sense that Tony would need something like that after everything that happened. 

"Thanks for telling me, Morgan," he said, eyes squeezed shut, as he hugged her. 

"Maybe you should write Dad a letter." 

A sob escaped, despite Peter's best efforts to control himself. Morgan gave him a moment before pulling back. 

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm a lot better, thanks. You're really smart, you know that?" Morgan narrowed her eyes at him before shaking her head. 

"Dad said I'm creepy smart but he loves me anyway. I'm going to go play while you write the letter. You stay on the crying bench. Say 'hi' from me."

Peter stared down at the notebook and pen in his lap as Morgan wandered away to find new treasures for her collection.

He was still staring at the blank page when he heard a bark. Peter's head shot up as a German Shepherd bounded up to him from out the water. The dog stopped as Peter jumped to his feet and proceeded to shake himself dry, water droplets flying everywhere and soaking Peter's clothes. He appeared friendly so Peter gave him a tentative pat on the back and, almost immediately, the big eared furry lump was using his feet as a chair. Morgan came running back at the sight of the dog. 

"Be careful, Morgan," Peter cautioned. "He seems friendly but we don't know for sure." The last thing he needed was Morgan getting bitten by a stray. 

"No, no it's Ralph. Look at his collar. He's ours." Peter looked down at the dogs neck. The red collar sported gold studs and a tag that read R.A.L.P.H. 

"It stands for Really Awesome Living Pet Helper," Morgan informed him as she threw her arms around the dog. Peter's grip on the collar tightened at the sharp reminder of Tony and his absurd acronyms. The leather snapped under his fingers. 

"Aww, careful Pete," Morgan whined but Ralph seemed unharmed and just stared up at him, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. 

"Sorry, Morgs. It was an accident." Peter stuffed the collar into his pocket along with the notebook and pen. "We better take him back with us, then." 

They started their return journey with Ralph running circles around them. 

When Pepper caught site of the dog she nearly dropped her wineglass. The two women had been relaxing in chairs out on the porch but she sprang up, May a close second, as Ralph came bounding towards her. 

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Pepper seemed stuck for a minute. "Ralph?" She looked over at Morgan who pulled the collar from Peter's pocket and waved it at her mother. Pepper grinned and bent down to hug the dog, who was happily licking every part of her he could reach. His tail was now wagging so fast Peter wondered if dogs ever sprained them. "Ralph," she repeated, laughing into the fur. Pepper looked up at Peter and wiped a tear from her eye as she smiled. 

"One minute he was there, jumping through the water at the edge of the lake and the next he was gone. Tony searched for him for so long but the tracker had malfunctioned. He sent out drones but we never found him. We lost hope after a freak snow storm blanketed the whole area in about 6 inches of snow. I can't believe it. He doesn't look like he's changed at all. Still those big pointy ears. Tony always said his head would grow into them but I guess not."

"Well, let's wash him down and bring him inside," May said, grabbing the garden hose from its wall mount.

"I'll grab an old towel," Pepper added, quickly disappearing inside the house. May proceeded to not only spray down the dog but also Morgan and Peter as they laughed and chased each other, Ralph barking wildly.

That night, under the cover of darkness, Peter snuck out from the guestroom with a folded sheet of paper clutched in his fist. His heightened senses allowed him to make the trek down to the mailbox easily. With shaking hands and a blotchy, tear stained face, he shoved the paper inside, turned up the little flag and ran back to the lake house. 


	3. Dear Mr Stark

**Tony, 2021**

Ralph was gone. Tony knew it was time to accept that but he wasn't giving up on his daily walks as well, especially not when they featured Morgan. She was busy playing fairies and dinosaurs while Tony sat on the bench, moodily staring out at the lake. The melancholy was hitting him again. He could feel the warning signs of self-recrimination and an escalating obsession with his failures, like losing Ralph and losing Peter, just losing and losing, over and over. 

Tony glanced around at a noise coming from the mailbox. The flag had popped up. He figured it was Morgan messing around. It had been a while since she'd wanted to mail anything but Tony got up to check, just in case. He didn't want to leave his daughter disappointed. Not yet. There would be plenty of time for him to do that, in any unimaginable number of ways. 

Tony opened the mailbox and found a folded sheet of paper inside. He looked around to check that Morgan was still distracted, before fishing it out. He had intended to just give it a quick glance before pocketing it, but all thoughts of Morgan catching him fled as he scanned the note.

_Dear Mr Stark,_

_I had another dream about you. It was...not good. They never are. I wish, just once, I could dream about some good times. Don't worry, though. It's hard but everyone is getting through it, one day at a time. Pepper is so amazing and strong. Morgan too. They miss you, of course. _

_Hey, just so you know, we found Ralph. He's fine and healthy so you don't have to worry about what happened to him anymore. This is stupid. I feel stupid. _

_I know we didn't get a chance to get real close or anything but I feel like maybe we were getting there? You know? Before it all happened. Like, we were starting to spend more time together and you were...I don't know...getting to like me more. But then all that stuff went down and I dusted and you...you had five years and you changed and I didn't know but you hugged me and I thought we weren't there yet but we were and now it doesn't matter where we were. It doesn't change how it is now. I feel like when you hugged me it really meant something, like us being closer or something, but logically I know we weren't really. I wonder if maybe it was some kind of guilt? I guess what I wish I knew was, were you relieved to see me or were you just so relieved not to feel responsible for me anymore?_

_Sincerely,_

_Peter Parker_

Tony's legs gave way and he sat down hard on the ground. The paper crumpled in his fist as he struggled through his next breath. 

"Oh fuck, Peter. Peter." He scrabbled around in the dirt trying to ground himself, to pull back from the visions of Titan that had started to form. 

"Daddy!" Morgan rushed to his side. "I'll get Mom."

"No, baby. Just hold up a minute," Tony managed to force out. "I'm alright. Just some silly person playing a naughty prank." Morgan sat down with him in the dirt and his racing heart eased. "Daddy's going to give them a good telling off when he catches them. I'm fine now, see?" He stood up quickly and held out a hand to his daughter. This time, he carried her home.

Later that evening, Tony was back down at the mailbox.

"Two can play at your game, fucker. I'm gonna catch you," he sing-songed as he set up hidden cameras among the surrounding bushes. Tony shoved his note inside the box and slammed it closed. He flicked up the flag before storming back to the house to watch the feed.

**Peter, 2023**

Peter had barely woken from a fitful sleep, before a wave of instant regret washed over him. Putting that note into the mailbox had been reckless and dumb. If anyone found it there would be no end to the mortifying questions they'd ask. Luckily, it was still early. Peter dressed quickly, pulling yesterday's hoodie back on and wrapping a thick red scarf around his neck to ward off the early morning chill. 

He raced down to the mailbox to collect his letter and destroy it, pushing his speed a little too far past human as his mind conjured up nightmare scenarios of the letter being read by Pepper and May. He would never outlive the shame. When he opened the mailbox, however, his note was gone. In its place was another folded piece of paper. Peter's stomach dropped into his shoes. One of them had found his note. They'd probably heard him sneak out in the night and followed. Peter hoped it hadn't been Morgan. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her. With no small amount of dread, Peter fished out the letter and opened it.

  
_Dear Asshole,_

_Who the hell do you think you're messing with? I'm Tony Stark! So believe me when I say I will hunt you down for taking my dog and when I catch you, I am going to go all John Wick on your ass. Save yourself the trouble and give me back my dog. You hearing me? Good talk. Let me just close our little tête-à-tête by saying you are a sick son of a bitch for impersonating my dead intern. You're going down, buddy._

  
Peter sank slowly to the bench as he read the letter. This couldn't be May or Pepper and certainly not Morgan. They just wouldn't...and yet...there was no one else around. Was it really too much for him to hope? Stranger things had happened and Peter liked to think he was an open minded guy. Morgan had said that Tony was reading and writing letters to him, so what if? He could also admit he was pretty desperate to believe. Peter decided to test things out.

He shoved his hand into his pocket and took out the paper and pen from the day before. He wrote another quick note, unwrapped his scarf from his neck and stuffed both the scarf and note into the mailbox.


	4. Snow

**Tony, 2021**

Pepper walked into the garage where Tony was still up watching the live feed from the mailbox. 

"It's late, Tony. We had a deal. No more of this. Not anymore." She came up and hugged him from behind but Tony had already switched off the screen. He wasn't ready to upset Pepper beyond the loss of Ralph and a small part of Tony wondered if he wasn't going mad. That would be just his luck, to drag Pepper into some kind of 'Beautiful Mind' scenario. He wanted footage of the stalker first so he could fix things before Pepper even had to know. He shifted around in her arms to give her a kiss.

"If I'm a good boy do you think I could wrangle a massage? I'm getting a little stiff."

"I can feel that. Why don't you come to bed and I'll see what I can do about it."

She took his hand and Tony followed her out of the garage, trusting FRIDAY to continue scanning and recording without his supervision.

When Tony cycled through the feed the next morning the small part of him that thought he was going mad grew a whole lot larger. There was nobody on the feed and yet FRIDAY had detected movement. Tony watched the playback over and over again. Everything was still and silent, and then the flag lowered. A few seconds passed and it popped up again with a metallic clang. Multiple scans of the video showed nothing that could account for the movement and it was freaking Tony out. 

This time he went for his walk to the mailbox without Morgan. The flag was still in its raised position when he arrived, so he opened it up to find a new letter as well as a scarf. Tony huffed out a breath in an attempt to calm himself. Things were starting to look like some kind of horror movie and he so did not need that right now. Tony reluctantly opened the letter.

_Dear Mr Stark,_

_I want to believe! I'm taking a real leap here and trusting that what I'm seeing and what Morgan told me are true and that you're actually getting my letters. It really is me, Mr Stark, but how do I prove that I'm me? Tough right? I'm going to tell you something only we would know. _

_Do you remember that time when you showed me your workshop and I got real excited while talking to you and some spit came flying out of my mouth and landed on your face? You were grossed out and I wanted to die but then you said, "Kid, people embarrass themselves in front of me all the time. We're going to move on now and never speak of it again," then to make me feel better you showed me the view of the compound from the roof. It had started snowing and I was cold and still too embarrassed to say anything but your hand on my back was really warm and you kept it there the whole time. _

_Speaking of snow, Pepper mentioned that a snow storm is coming your way soon. Here's my scarf. I know you probably have a better one for yourself but I just thought you might like it. I have a lot of Ben's old jackets and they help me. They really do. I wanted to ask for something of yours but I haven't worked up the courage yet because I'm not really family and it's more a family thing, you know? Who am I kidding? I'm never going to ask. Please take care in the snow, Mr Stark._

_Sincerely,_

_Peter Parker_

  
He didn't believe. He couldn't, but, when Tony brought the scarf up to his face, oh god, it smelled just like Peter. Tony had almost forgotten that scent. A subtle aroma, that while impossible to pin down, always screamed 'safe.' It was a quirk of Peter's spider DNA; a pheromone that certain arachnids used to infiltrate the nests of their prey and put them completely at ease. Peter smelled like home. Tony had never even noticed it until it was gone from his life. Whatever was going on, the scarf was definitely Peter's. He wrapped it around his neck and reveled in the feeling of calm that instantly washed over him. 

Light feathery snowflakes started to drift down as Tony headed back to the house. By the time he arrived they were swirling thick around his feet and it didn't take too long after that for the storm to set in. 

Not a single weather forecast that Tony could find had predicted the blizzard that he currently sat watching through the window. 

"Alright Pete. I think I believe," he muttered into his hot chocolate.

"Hmm?" Pepper looked over from the sofa where she was relaxing now that Morgan was in bed asleep.

"I said, I don't think we are going to find Ralph. Not after this."

"You tried your best. Why don't we talk to Morgan about it together after breakfast tomorrow." 

Tony got up and sat next to Pepper who lay her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, that's going to suck."

  
A few days later, once the blizzard had cleared, Tony took his letter down to the mailbox. Morgan was with him all bundled up in a puffy winter coat. She'd taken the news of Ralph's likely demise with a maturity that left Tony and Pepper speechless. Her only comment had been, "Ralphy's with Peter now," which had sent Tony out the room and down into the garage for a good hour. It frustrated him that he had bigger meltdowns than his three year old. Burying his face in the scarf had helped, though. Just like Peter had said.

Morgan was off to one side, playing with a toy sword, while Tony placed his letter in the box. He double checked that the flag was raised and was about to turn away when it shot down and back up again. Tony reached out with shaking hands. They were trembling so hard he could barely open the mailbox to retrieve the letter. He sat on the bench, fumbling with the paper as he unfolded it. 

_Dear Mr Stark,_

_I'm in Morgan's fairy spot near the lake house. I'm sitting on the bench by the mailbox and it's the year 2023._

_Sincerely,_

_Peter Parker_

Tony held the letter to his chest. Tears streamed unnoticed down his face as he giggled hysterically.

**Peter, 2023**

Peter sat on the bench, Ralph at his feet, while he read Tony's letter. It had appeared just a few short days after he'd mailed the scarf.

_Dear Pete,_

_You want to believe? You better not be making pop culture references at me from beyond the grave! This is wild. This is nutso. Okay, say I go along with this. What am I supposed to say? How's death treating you? Have you met anyone cool in the afterlife? I gotta admit your last two letters didn't make a whole lot of sense but it's nice to hear that you've got Ralph there with you, wherever you are. You know what? I'm just going to come right out an ask. Where the hell are you, Pete?_

_Tony_

Peter grinned. He wrote down his location and added the year. Time travel was a reality to Peter but this was going to blow Tony's mind. 

Letter safely placed inside the box, Peter started to walk away but Ralph stayed seated in front of the bench and refused to budge even when Peter called to him.

"Come on, Ralph. Good boy. Ahh, heel?" Ralph just sat watching the mailbox. He barked at it and when Peter followed the dog's gaze he saw that the flag had lowered. He was still staring when he saw it pop back up again.

"So awesome!" he breathed and jogged back.

_Dear Pete,_

_I'm not there am I? In the future. That's okay. I am okay with that. No really. I'm serious. I don't want to know why because I know there's only one reason I wouldn't be with you all, so don't tell me. Timelines, causality, fate of the world etc. I don't want to screw that up because from what little you've told me, it's more than I could have ever hoped for. I'm happy for you, you have no idea and I know you will look out for Morgan and Pepper for me and they'll look out for you too. So let's just enjoy this. No, zip it, I know how you get. Leave it alone, Pete. Just tell me how you're all doing._

_Tony_

_P.S. You may address your letters to 'Tony' from now on. I don't want anymore 'Mr Stark' from you, young man. Ah ah, don't talk back. I can hear you spluttering across time and space. _

**Tony, 2021**

Tony had been waiting weeks for a response. Every day he walked down with Morgan, and every day when he saw the flag still in its lowered position, his heart would drop, and every day he would check inside anyway. The box always remained empty. By the end of the third week it was too much. The melancholy was back. Empty handed once more he collapsed on the bench with a sob. It was hard to write while crying but Tony was determined to send another note, even if there would never be a reply. Just one more try, and then he would accept that whatever window that had allowed them to communicate was closed. 

Morgan noticed her fathers tears and ran over to him.

"Is Daddy hurt?"

"Hey, Morguna. No, I'm not hurt. You can keep playing, it's alright." Tony's voice broke and he swallowed down the grief that threatened to rip its way out of him.

"I wanna sit with you," Morgan replied, climbing into Tony's lap. Tony abandoned his letter, wrapped his arms around his daughter and together they sat quietly, looking out over the lake.

A letter appeared just as they were preparing to return to the house. Tony's mood shot from dark to ecstatic in an instant and he wanted to read it straight away but Morgan was ready to go home so he put it in his pocket to save for a quieter moment. He spent the rest of the day in eager anticipation and once both Morgan and Pepper were sound asleep, he flopped down onto the sofa and opened up Peter's letter.

_Dear Tony,_

_I'm so so sorry I couldn't write back to you sooner but it's not like I live at the lake house and I just couldn't find an excuse to drop by. I've been dealing with some stuff in New York anyway and then I had a class trip to Europe that was so crazy but I handled it and it didn't turn out all that bad until it totally did. I'm sorry, I'm being cryptic but I don't know how telling you stuff might affect the timeline. I'm going to start doing way more research on all of that real soon so I don't destroy the whole multiverse or something. Also, don't think that I'm just going to give up on you, just because you say so. _

_Anyway, I've put 'the other guy' on hold for a while, which I didn't want to do, but it was kinda necessary after everything that's happened. At least it's given me more free time to focus on other parts of my life, I guess._

_I've offered to babysit Morgan at the lake house to give Pepper some time off every week. I felt a little bad when she called me thoughtful because it wasn't just about her, it was about me and you, too. She's taken up Zumba, not that she needed to lose weight or anything. She showed me her workout routine and she's really good. We totally had a dance off in the lounge room and Morgan was judge so of course her mom won. I busted out a few slick moves of my own, though. _

_DUM-E has been acting off ever since, um, you know. He just keeps circling one corner of your garage and hitting the wall. None of us have the heart to try and fix him. He is just so loyal to you and also we don't want to mess up his coding. I figure we can leave him be for a while and let him mope if that's what he wants to do. He might still pull himself out of his loop._

_May's started a charity for people affected by the blip and something's going on between her and Happy, like, romantically. I just need to wait until they figure out what that something is before I know how I feel about it. Happy's been good to me. He was there when I really needed him, so there's that. I'd give him the shovel talk but I think May will be the one who breaks his heart. _

_Finally, Rhodey has been seeing a lot of Carol Danvers and they say it's just work but I don't know about that. She's been coming back to Earth way more than is necessary so I think there's something going on there too. _

_Now that I'm at the lake house weekly we can write each other more often. I'm really looking forward to your next letter and I'm sorry again that it took me so long to write back. _

_Sincerely,_

_Peter Parker_


	5. Walking Tour

**Peter, 2024**

Seasons changed and Peter kept delaying telling Pepper and the others what was going on. He wasn't ready to face their questions and doubts and secretly, a selfish part of him didn't want to share, but Peter knew he would have to fess up eventually. He just needed a little more time to prepare himself.

Finding a new letter from Tony was quickly becoming the highlight of his week. Peter felt like he was getting to know a side of Tony that he had never even realised existed before. Unfortunately for this week, Pepper and Morgan had something else on and he couldn't be at the lake house like he wanted to. Instead, Peter found himself walking the busy city streets, holding up a map marked with little red dots. 

_Hey Pete,_

_In your last letter you said missing five years was a lot to catch up on and many of the places you liked to go to have closed up. I get it, you don't know New York like you used to and that's not good for Spider-Man. You're also worried that you don't know where to take MJ on a date that she won't find lame. Well, since you can't come to the lake house this week, I want to show you some of my favourite spots and hopefully that will tide you over and give you some ideas for your big date. _

_ Come on a walking tour with me, Peter Parker. I am about to guide you through some interesting little locales, and I know right now the money I included is making you queasy, so don't think I'm doing this out of generosity. Oh no my little web-head. You are required to write down one thing that each spot made you think of. I want to read thoughts, feelings and impressions. Anything that pops into your head, especially the first thing that pops into your head. Be honest now!_

The first location had Peter standing in front of a wrought iron gate, beyond which stood a bright red door.

_We begin in Midtown at 'The Burns Archive.' After you told me of your budding interest in photography and your new girlfriend's fascination with the macabre, I lamented missing the chance to ever take you to this incredible visual repository. Lucky for you, I'm Tony Stark, so I made a deal with ol' Stanley to give you unlimited access. It's not normally open to the public but just give them your name. Have at it in there, bud. Take your girlfriend; it's bound to impress. You might be interested in the new collection documenting the rise of the enhanced. I'm pretty sure there is a picture of a certain blue and red vigilante taking down a gang of thugs in there too.   
_

Peter walked past yellow painted walls littered with antique framed photographs to find the section he was looking for. 

_There is, however, a particular photo that I think you will be interested to see. It's a part of the medical collection but it's never made available to anyone and won't be for another few years. An exception will be made for you. I was persuaded that it would be a wonderful contribution and how could I say no to going down in medical history? _

_I was pretty secretive about showing my chest back then, when I had the arc reactor installed. I always ALWAYS wore a shirt over it. I was worried, heh, about so many things. Top of that list was it being reproduced by someone else and also, as weird as it sounds, just the idea of people seeing my scarred chest. I didn't want people to see me as weakened by what had happened. As a fan, you know there aren't any photos of it circulating. FRIDAY made sure of that. _

_This picture is the only one. It's of me as I was about to go under the knife to have the shrapnel removed. Even in Afghanistan, I never felt so at the mercy of others as the day that photo was taken. Still, I know you're interested in the technology and would want to see how it looked at the time. Just please don't tell your aunt that your- admittedly late- 51 year old mentor is showing you pictures of his naked chest!_

Peter stared down at the photo in question. Tony was standing in some kind of hospital ward, naked from the waist up. The outdated arc reactor glowed, exaggerating the shadows in the room. He was looking directly at the camera with his patented cocky smile but it was his eyes that drew Peter's attention. Back on Titan, Peter had looked into those eyes and seen a kind of weary resignation, even as he crumbled to dust. Tony's deepest emotions usually remained hidden, papered over with thick layers of anger and sarcasm but here, in this image, his eyes showed a vulnerability that Peter had never been allowed to see before. Tony looked afraid.

By the time he was finished with the archive, Peter was famished. Thankfully, Tony's tour lead him to a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe that, while old and a little rundown, was still neat and clean. It was filled with vintage bohemian decor and a jungle's worth of plants.

_You told me that MJ is a vegan and you want to impress her with good local food. Well, I don't think there is a gluten-free vegan paleo raw-food eatery in all of New York that Pepper hasn't dragged me to. MJ sounds like a super cool cat though, so I'm thinking not just any old place will do. Too big and flashy and you look like you're trying too hard so you need something family run, humble, but with Michelin star quality food. I know just the one. Pep took me to 'The Crooked Carrot' shortly after we got married and if it's got the 'Pepper Pass,' I guarantee MJ won't be turning her nose up at it. All the ingredients are locally sourced so you can also assure her that the meal you are enjoying has a substantially reduced carbon footprint._

_For today, I want you to try the Trenette al Pesto. It's one of my absolute favourite foods. I have eaten in many of the finest restaurants in the world but none of them stack up against authentic home-style cooking like this._

Peter's stomach was fit to burst as the portion sizes had been enormous. He pulled out his map to see that the next spot on his journey would take him to Brooklyn. He had to ride the L train to Bushwick, getting off at Jefferson St station.

_I've never been into street art much. If I couldn't buy it as an investment or hang it on my wall, I wasn't interested. Pepper was responsible for curating all my artworks. It was always more her passion than mine but this one really got to me. _

_I first saw it featured on the news. They were discussing the cultural impact of the snap and how it was influencing the work of artists. I had to drive out to see it for myself after that. I don't know why this particular one moved me more than anything else. Maybe, because I was still processing what went down. What do you think? I'd like to know your impression._

Peter looked up at the graffitied wall in disappointment. He wished he could have seen the artwork that Tony was referring to but it had been painted over. In its place stood Iron Man, hand outstretched in his signature stance. It was a beautiful tribute and a surprisingly accurate rendering of the Mark LXXXV.  Peter sighed and fished out his map again.

_And in the spirit of misdemeanors, Pete, I have one last thing to show you._

When Peter arrived at the spot, he was confused. He double checked the map but it seemed that Tony fully expected him to follow the dank alleyway in front of him. He picked his way past stinking garbage bags and turned down the shadowy corner. It was a dead end but what greeted him stopped Peter in his tracks. Peter brought a hand up to cover his mouth before reaching out to brush his fingers reverently over the dirty brick. On it was spray-painted a message:

Peter, 

I'm here with you.   
Always.

Love Tony


	6. The 10th Circle of Hell

**Tony 2023**

Tony relaxed on the sofa, feet propped up on an ottoman, reading the latest letter. He was really enjoying Peter's stories of his first year at Empire State University and while Tony may have been a little disappointed that Peter hadn't chosen MIT, he could understand the boy's reasoning. After all, Peter had spent about 4 pages explaining it to him. It came as a bit of a surprise then, when the contents of this new letter turned out to be quite different.

_Dear Tony,_

_Do you want to conduct an experiment with me? When the snap happened (they call it 'The Blip' now, by the way) anyway, when that happened a lot of people lost all their possessions. All our things got thrown away because nobody expected us to ever come back. The apartments of families that got snapped were rented out to new ones, who just dumped the old stuff or sold it. _

_Right now, there is a family living at my old apartment in Queens, but I don't want you to do anything to take away their new home. They're actually very nice and it's fine that they moved in. They are not the ones who have my stuff because, by the time you read this, our landlord will have already gotten rid of it. Freddy is a pretty neat guy, though. He kept an old watch that I had. It was Ben's. He said he knew how important it was to me and couldn't bring himself to sell it but unfortunately it got stolen anyway. Freddy said he put it in his pocket to take to his storage unit, but then he nearly took a tumble on the stairs that lead down to the J train at Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer Station. It was near exit E and, in the mess of it all, he said it got swiped. If my timing is correct, he's going to lose it next Tuesday at 2:15pm, your time, and I thought maybe you could get to him before that happens. I've included a photo of Freddy so you can spot him._

_Think of it as a test, Tony. I know you said that time travel doesn't work this way but I don't think it hurts to try it out. Like, I know some weird stuff went down with Nebula, but nobody will talk to me about any of it. Bruce says that all the devices were destroyed and that I need to move on. He keeps giving me worried looks and won't discuss the theory with me at all, so I need to gather data for myself. If you can save my watch from being stolen and if that then changes my reality, then maybe we can also save you. I know it's a long shot so I promise I won't be disappointed if you can't get to Freddy. I just really want to find a way for you to be here with us all. Please, will you try? For me?_

_Love,_

_Peter_

Tony folded up the letter with a sigh. "It's not 'Back to the Future' rules, Pete," he muttered. Even so, he shouted out to Pepper in the kitchen.  
"I'm going to go into the city next Tuesday." 

"Oh? What for? Did I forget something?" she called back.

"No, I just want to get you those kitchen garden plants you've been thinking about."

"Oh, that's great, Tony. Thank you. Could you pick me up a goji too?"

**Peter, 2025**

Peter sat in the library, surrounded by books on quantum mechanics, quantum field theory and particle physics. He huffed out a sigh of relief, closed his book and took out Tony's letter. He'd been saving it as a reward for finishing a particularly difficult chapter on the possibilities of temporal mechanics. 

_Dear Peter,_

_Let me tell you a tale of derring-do. An infiltration mission to a place so depraved, it makes a Hydra research base look positively delightful by comparison. On Tuesday, I did indeed don my incognito cap and I went forth to the Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer subway station. Oh my dear Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. You neglected to mention that it was, in fact, the 10th circle of hell!_

_I made my way past the proselytizers offering me some quality reading material for my journey, only to be assailed by the overwhelming stench of urine. Nevertheless, I soldiered on. I decided against buying a cheaper pass from the friendly young entrepreneur at the turnstile, instead choosing to purchase a ticket from the machine. I then proceeded further into the bowels Hades. Thankfully, a scent of Acapulco gold soon overshadowed the human excrement and I briefly enjoyed a minor contact high._

_I imagine there was a time when that station would have been incredibly crowded. Now it's about half as crowded and that was still too many people, Peter!_

_I made my way to the bottom of the stairs by exit E as you instructed and waited for our friend Freddy, biding my time by counting the number of rats that skittered across the tracks. Six. Six rats. There were six! Incidentally, you were right about the timing. It wasn't that long before I saw Freddy get off the train and start heading up the stairs but I hung back a little, so as not to alarm him. I saw him trip and begin to topple backwards. Luckily, I ran up in time and steadied him before he could really fall. Given his age, I think it would have killed him. I'm actually glad you told me to come, Peter. Another woman saw it all too and came over to help. While she was checking if he was alright, I slipped my hand into his pocket and took Ben's watch. _

_You see, 'Back to the Future' is not how time travel works. In this case, time is a closed loop. Bruce is right about you needing to let it go. On the up side, I have Ben's watch with me and I promise I am going to mail it to you, but not yet. I know how important it is, but as I hold it in my hands, all I can think is how this was touched by you. All I've had is that photo we took for your internship and a scarf that's been worn so much it's lost all trace of you, but this, you loved this. It was treasured by you and, I'm sorry Pete, but I can't let it go right now. I will get it to you safely but just wait a bit longer. Let me hold this piece of you, for just a little while._

_Love,_

_Tony_

Peter smiled, put the letter away and got up to return the books to their shelves. 

**Tony, 2023**

_Dear Tony,_

_I'm really grateful that you saved Fred and that you have my watch with you. I know you'll look after it so I don't mind you holding onto it for now. I'm not going to give up on you, though. No matter what you say! Not when it's so so close to happening soon. I've been researching the hell out of time travel at ESU library whenever I have the spare time. I was even there yesterday, looking into Nichol's theory of temporal mechanics and I think it might have some merit. Actually, funny story, I was talking to a guy, Alex, in the restricted section about how I wish I could take the book home with me and he just grabbed it and ripped the pages I wanted right out of the book! I was so mad at him. He ruined it! I still took the pages home with me, though. No point in wasting them, right? And I know Alex meant well, even if he went about it in absolutely the wrong way. I'm going to show the pages to Rhodey and explain the theory to him. He's coming to the lake house this weekend and I need to tell him what's been going on. There's no time left, Tony, and I need someone on my side for this, especially if I want to convince Bruce._

_It's stressing me out, keeping this secret, and I can't sleep at night for all the theories and calculations swirling about my head but when things get really bad, more and more, I find myself thinking back to your lake house. Of sitting by the guestroom window whenever I wake up from a nightmare and just looking out at your Chilean lantern tree. It's so weirdly out of place but that makes it look proud, you know? Proud and peaceful. I really love that tree. _

_Love,_

_Peter_

Pepper looked at the tree like it had personally insulted her.

"And you say you had to go back into the city again, just for this tree? This tree that you suddenly absolutely needed and ordered in specially, even though you've never cared about gardens or gardening in your life?"

Tony shrugged.

"I had a vision, Pep. A vision of a Chilean lantern tree right by the guest room window. It needs to go there."

"Well, have fun with that. I already did the entire kitchen garden while you played with Morgan all day yesterday."

"I was keeping Morgan out from under your feet. I know how you get when you have a project you want finished."

Pepper gave him a wry look and started to walk away but Tony grabbed her hands to stop her.

"No Pep, come on. You know I have a black thumb. I need you on this with me. I need your miracle garden hands. We'll get Morgan too and call it 'family time.' You can't say no to family time."

"I was going to go get the shovel, Tony." Pepper said, pulling her hands out of his and pointing to a stack of garden tools by the porch. "You take it round back."

Tony dragged the tree to the guest room window. 

"Yeah! Team Stark. Planting a tree. What could be better than this?" he puffed when Pepper arrived with Morgan.

"How about getting a new thermomix?" Pepper said and handed him the shovel.

"We can make that the next family time project."

Tony started digging while Morgan played in the growing dirt pile with her trucks. Pepper watched on, refusing to get her clothes dirty but happy to offer advice. 

"No, Tony. You need to make the hole wider than that to give the tree's roots space to grow before they hit compacted earth."

"I gotta admit," Tony said wiping his brow. "I'm finding this harder than I thought. I might need to go get my suit." 

"Well, then it's a good thing we hired Rick to do all the really strenuous handiwork around here, isn't it?" she replied, sarcastically sweet. "That was a good idea of mine after all, wasn't it?"

"Oh, I see how it is. You're thinking of trading me in for a younger model, Pep. For Rick the di-"

"Tony!" Pepper cut him off. "Although," she added with a sly smile, "the thought of being a cougar does have it's appeal." 

Morgan looked up from her little dump truck full of dirt. "That sounds fun. Let's play cougars."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I overestimated how many chapters I would need. This story will be finished a lot sooner than I expected.


	7. The Last Letter

**Tony, 2023**

Tony stared at the two nano housing units on the workbench. One was his, the other was the battered one Morgan had fished out of the lake. He traced the deep scorch marks with his fingers. The door creaked and he glanced up to see Rhodey approaching. His friend peered over his shoulder at the tech.

"Ohh, that one's seen better days. That the one you threw at Cap?"

Tony didn't answer, instead saying, "I gotta head down to the mailbox real quick for Morgan. You grab a beer, take a load off and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Of course that's okay. I love it."

"Love what?"

"Watching Tony Stark be a total dad."

The quick walk hadn't helped and Tony really didn't want to take his sullen mood out on Rhodey. He needed a pick-me-up so he decided to sit on the bench and read Peter's letter before heading back to his friend.

_Dear Mr Stark,_

_I showed Rhodey Nichol's theory and then I tried to convince him with the letters. He got so mad. He thinks it's one of Mysterio's tricks. One more mind fuck. He dumped it all in the trash and then he told Pepper. They keep making sure to tell me they're not angry at me, that they're angry at whoever is doing this to me, but I'd prefer it if they were. It's better than their pity. _

_They don't believe it's you because you never told them anything. They spent all night tearing down my arguments and they're right. I wanted to talk to you so bad that I started believing in a time traveling mailbox! How stupid is that? It doesn't make any kind of logical sense. That's why you didn't give me back Ben's watch. I would've known if it was fake. _

_They said after this weekend I'm not to come to the lake house for a while. For my own good. It's not healthy. They're letting me send a final goodbye, though. For closure. I never seem to get that, you know? Life is always over in an instant. I learned that a long time ago when my parents died and I was waiting at home for them and I loved them and I never got to see them again. Then Ben was killed right in front of me. He died in my arms, just like that, and I thought about May who was waiting at home, who loved him and who would never see him again. Now, I have nightmares about you too. You're burning, and I know that it ends just like that and I think about Morgan who was waiting at home and who loves you and who will never see you again. _

_I know you wouldn't want my memories of you to be painful but they are. It hurts to think of you. It hurts so much I can't breathe and all I can taste is ashes and I'm crying. I didn't think I'd ever get over what Thanos did to us but then your letter found me and I let myself get lost in this fantasy where I was someone special to you, but it's not real Mr Stark. We weren't really there yet and we never can be. This is just a letter to a ghost. _

_I need to live the life that I have, so from now on, Rhodey will be collecting anything else that comes through the mailbox. He's determined to catch who's behind all this, so please don't write to me anymore. You're dead. It already happened. It's time for me to let you go._

_Sincerely,_

_Peter Parker_

Tony agreed it was time to let go. He'd been trying to gently tell the boy to leave things be, but Peter refused to listen and Tony knew the letters, however much he found comfort in them, couldn't continue. Better to end it in this way, than for Peter to send a final letter that would never be received, ending on words that would never be read. Tony wasn't going to do that to him.

He was still white hot furious, though. He slammed open the door of the house and spotted Rhodey sitting with Pepper in the lounge room.

"You know what I hate about you, Rhodey? Even when you're right, you're such an ass about it."

"Tony!" Rhodey called out after him as he stomped up the stairs. He could still hear his friend from the landing.

"Has he been drinking?"

Pepper stared back at Rhodey with her mouth open and eyes wide and shook her head no.

**Peter, 2025**

Peter was packing his bags ready to leave the lake house. Happy would be picking him up soon to take him back to the city and then that would be it. No more mailbox and no more letters. He was actually glad that he wouldn't be returning for a while. Peter felt beyond humiliated and didn't want to face Pepper again anytime soon. Not that she'd been cruel, but his desperate explanations had made her cry and Peter hated that he'd done that to her.

He went to grab his jacket from the hook by the front door. Morgan was standing there, her hands in Rhodey's jacket pocket. 

"Morgan H Stark! What are you doing?"

She pulled out a letter and shoved it into his hands.

"It's your letter. I saw it when Uncle Rhodey showed it to Mom, before she left for work. It's addressed to you!" 

"Morgan, I can't," Peter said as he put the letter back. Morgan shrugged.

"Whatever! I'll be waiting on the sofa when you're ready to go." She turned on her heel and walked away.

Peter stared at Rhodey's jacket. He went to follow Morgan, stopped and came back.

"Shit!"

Peter grabbed the letter and opened it.

_Dear Peter,_

_I know you may never get this but I have to send it. I guess I need some kind of closure too. God, where to start?_

_I'm so sorry, Peter. I never told Pepper or Rhodey because I knew there would be no point. If they can't even believe Peter 'great responsibility' Parker, they sure as hell would never have believed me. A psychotic break is far more believable than time travel and I had no desire to be forced back into therapy._

_Now, you're suffering for it so I'm sorry. I wish I could be there with you. That we could sit together on that bench and look out over the water. I would be a shoulder for you to cry on and I would tell you that everything is going to be okay. _

_And it will all be okay because Cap an' crew just showed up spouting off about a time heist. I basically told them to 'get lost' but only because I wanted to buy a little more time. I wanted a chance to say goodbye. I told them it was impossible and it really should be, but we both know that it's not, don't we? If I didn't already have proof, I wouldn't have even bothered to try but I know that somehow, someway, this all works. I know in my heart that helping the Avengers is what I'm meant to do and I know I'm not kidding myself here, because I checked and it's got the Pepper Pass. It's time for me to bring you home, kid, and when I see you, I'm going to hug you and I want you to know it was, and will be, because you are family to me._

_Goodbye Peter. I'll see you soon._

_P.S. I didn't want to risk sending Ben's watch with this in case Rhodey gets rid of it, but I really hope you get this letter so you know where to find it. I've left the watch in loyal hand._

Peter wiped his face and tried to make sense of Tony's cryptic footnote. Loyal hand not hands. Tony didn't make mistakes like that no matter how rushed he might be. Hand. Singular. A loyal hand.....DUM-E!

Peter raced down to the garage, where the bot was still sitting in the corner, moping and banging on the wall. But no, Peter realized, not moping at all. Guarding!

"Hey DUM-E, buddy. Do you have the watch?"

DUM-E spun around in another circle but this time it let off a few rapid chirps. It hit the wall, drew back and then pointed a finger at the spot. Peter grabbed a nearby hammer and smashed it through the drywall. He shoved his hand inside and withdrew a plastic bag containing Ben's watch. He knew instantly that it was the real deal and snapped it onto his wrist with a laugh. He patted DUM-E's claw.

"You are the goodest boy."

DUM-E gave a long whistle and patted Peter's leg in return. Peter smiled down at it, gave the claw a final squeeze and then ran back inside the house to look for the book pages Rhodey had dumped earlier.

They were gone.

Assuming either Pepper or Rhodey had emptied the trash, Peter flopped down on the sofa in despair and buried his head in his hands. Morgan was already sitting, dressed in a green fairy dress with tie-on costume wings. She was engrossed in her colouring but looked up when he growled in frustration.

"What's wrong, now?"

"The trash got emptied. I lost some pages that were important to me."

"These ones?" Morgan held up the pages she had scribbled all over with multiple coloured crayons. They were the ones from Nichol's book. "They were in the trash can so I thought no one would be mad if I used them. It took me a lot of practice but it looks good now, see?" She handed the pages to him. "I used glitter too," she added when Peter remained silent. "Glitter makes everything prettier."

Peter shook himself out of his funk. "That's really cool, Morgan but I need them now, if that's okay?"

"It's fine." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Mom says you'll feel better once you leave the house. I think she's right."

"Hey, I feel good right now, with my favourite little fairy kissing my sads away."

"Fairy Queen," she corrected, smiling at their usual joke.

"Of course, Your Majesty," he gave her an extravagant bow before running out the back door.

Peter didn't stop running until he reached the bench. He leaned on it to scribble a quick note over the first page and then stuffed the lot into the mailbox.

_Tony_

_I got the watch but that doesn't matter right now. You need to know that Nichol's theory on temporal mechanics has new applications to the multiverse and the multiverse is infinite. It's infinite! So the possibilities are too. There isn't just one chance in fourteen million six hundred and five, that's bullshit, and even if you won't listen to me, listen to Nichol. I love you and I'm telling you this isn't the only way. It wasn't and will never be the only way. You can change it, Tony. You can! Just wait. Please don't go. Just wait._

Peter folded his hands in prayer and stood unmoving.

"Please, please, please, please, please...."

The flag went down and popped up again. He jumped forward, grabbed the letter and ripped it open.

_Peter,_

_Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole. I told you right at the start that I wasn't going to jeopardize your return. Everything is gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to...but thank you for trying. You have no idea what it means to get one final letter from both you and Morgan, safe and together in that beautiful future. Tell Morgan her sparkle drawings always make Daddy proud. I've got the pages tucked away safely, right by my heart. I love you too, Peter. Don't be scared for me. Part of the journey is the end._

Peter shouted as the pain of failure stabbed at him. He yelled until his voice was gone and even then he continued to scream silently. He'd been given his second chance and blown it. He'd lost Tony all over again. There would be no coming back from that. He just couldn't. He read the letter over and over, praying for the words to change. How was he supposed to make sense of this? To make sense of Tony's choice to sacrifice himself. Eventually, he just stared down at the words, mind blank with shock, until very slowly a single phrase started repeating over and over.

Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole.

Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole.

Peter read the letter again.

NICHOL IS SO DENSE HIS BRAIN IS A BLACK HOLE!


	8. The Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not copying if you call it a hommage! LOL

**Tony, 2023**

"And I....am....Iron Man." 

Tony snapped his fingers. The combined energy of the infinity stones snaked out and in and around his gauntlet. They flared, their colours running down his arm and into his chest plate. Tony could feel his nano housing unit spark and overload. Then his whole body overloaded and the world turned orange. 

**Tony, 2025**

In a dark corner, a tiny pinprick of orange light flickered once, twice, and then expanded rapidly to become a small whirlwind. Protons and neutrons came together in fusion explosions, their devastating effects contained within the funnel. It was a kaleidoscopic light show wrapped in utter silence. The atoms formed molecules that twisted and spun, gathering momentum and knitting together to form a mass. Slowly, a human figure took shape as limbs and appendages reassembled.

When the orange finally faded, Tony blinked furiously, his eyes adjusting to the bright fluorescent lighting. His legs buckled and he landed on rough carpet. The hand that had been resting over Pepper's as he'd died was instead holding the burnt remnants of Peter and Morgan's letter against his chest. The Iron Man suit was gone. Instead, he was wearing the same clothes that he'd worn when he'd left the lake house: a black t-shirt, dark jeans and a zip up leather jacket.

As he took his hand away the letter crumbled to ash leaving a dirty mark on the carpet. Tony stared down at his hands. The scars, wrinkles and early signs of arthritis had disappeared. These hands were younger. They were his hands and yet they weren't. 

Tony looked around and found he was sitting in a library. He stood up slowly on shaking legs, using the metal bookshelves for support.   
It was night outside. The library windows reflected the indoor lighting, turning them into mirrors. Tony looked at his reflection and promptly fell on his ass again. He'd lost about 30 years, leaving his face looking like it had in his early 20's. The beard was gone, replaced with smooth unblemished skin. Tony was on the verge of hyperventilating when he heard a voice two shelves over.

"Excuse me, Ms Chloe? I know this book's from the restricted borrowing section but do you ever make allowances? Is there some kind of exception? I really need to take this with me."

Peter!

Tony padded quietly over and peaked out from around the shelf. Peter was standing in front of the librarian showing her a book.

"Sorry Dear," the woman was saying. "You can take notes from it but you can't take it home." 

Tony continued to stare as they talked. Sensing that he was being watched, Peter glanced over but Tony quickly looked away to avoid eye contact and pretended to scan the shelves.

"You can make copies of the pages if you need to. The machine's down there." Ms Chloe pointed to an area over by Tony.

"I don't really have the money," Peter replied as he looked over. This time, Tony was too slow to glance away but when their eyes met, there was no recognition from Peter. Just a raised eyebrow and a slight smile before turning back to his conversation. Tony's heart stuttered. It took him to the count of five before he could bare to glance up at Peter again. It took him another five seconds to kick his brain into gear and slot all the puzzle pieces together. By the time his feet were carrying him over to Peter, he knew what he had to do.

Tony made a show of rushing up to the librarian.

"Excuse me, Ms Chloe? The rare books room. The Shakespeare folios," he panted.

"Yes, what about them?" She asked, confused.

"Their fooling with the folios."

"Fooling with the folios?"

"Yes and they're fiddling too. Go! Go to them."

Ms Chloe drew in a shocked breath and rushed off muttering, "Oh dear! Oh, good heavens."

Peter opened his mouth to speak but, before he could get a word out, Tony grabbed the book out of his hands and proceeded to give it an exaggerated once over.

"This is bad," he said teasingly.

"How bad, um?"

" -Alex."

"Alex? I'm Peter." Peter's small smile grew to a full one. Tony's heart sang.

"It's worse than I thought," he said over the thudding in his chest.

"How worse?"

"A lot. This book was written by Nichol."

"Yeah, so?"

"So it means I have to save you from painfully bad theories on the temporal mechanics of the infinite multiverse." Peter looked at him in surprise but recovered quickly. 

"But surely you don't deny the possibility of a multiverse?" He challenged.

"The possibility of a multiverse? No. The possibility of Nichol having something of value to say about it? Well, maybe somewhere out there in some alternate universe, vastly different from our own."

"Where you're the President of the United States or something?" Peter joked. Tony wanted to smile but his mouth seemed caught between joy and grief. Oh, he'd missed this.

"More like where the Earth is populated by infrared generating methane-based gaseous lifeforms. Maybe then. Maybe."

"So you're saying Nichol would have value on an Earth populated by hot farts? Maybe Nichol, with his infinite number of universes-" 

"You want to talk about infinite things?" Tony interrupted. "Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole. No intelligent thoughts can escape the gravitational pull of his infinite density, but here-" Tony ripped the pages from the book and offered them to Peter, "-take them, if you want them so bad." 

"What the hell are you doing?" Peter cried and grabbed the pages from Tony's hand. 

"Ow, that gave me a paper cut." Tony stuck his finger in his mouth. "I'm bleeding."

"Well, you deserve it for destroying the book. I can't believe you did that, Alex!" Peter replied angrily.

"You want to tell Ms Chloe?"

"Hell no!"

"Then, quick, shove them in your bag before she gets back."

Peter gave him a withering glare but did as he was told. Tony smiled fondly and it caught Peter off guard.

"Are you okay, Alex?"

This kid, he thought. This beautiful, kind, amazing kid.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Peter. I could see the pages were important to you so I wanted you to take them."

Peter looked away and shrugged. "Thank you but I should probably get going now. You have a nice life."

"Nah, I'll see you again soon. I mean, I have to go see Harry Potter and his janky-ass stone first and take care of some things, but, after that, I'll see you around." 

"Um okay, see you around then. Enjoy the movie?" Peter gave him a strange look and a small wave.

It took every ounce of willpower Tony had to let Peter walk away from him.

**Peter, 2025**

Peter shouted as the pain of failure stabbed at him. He yelled until his voice was gone and even then he continued to scream silently. He'd been given his second chance and blown it. He'd lost Tony all over again. There would be no coming back from that. He just couldn't. He read the letter over and over, praying for the words to change. How was he supposed to make sense of this? To make sense of Tony's choice to sacrifice himself. Eventually, he just stared down at the words, mind blank with shock, until very slowly a single phrase started repeating over and over.

_Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole._

_Nichol is so dense his brain is a black hole._

Peter read the letter again.

_NICHOL IS SO DENSE HIS BRAIN IS A BLACK HOLE!_

Peter looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Alex?"

"Come on. You know better than that."

"Tony!" 

Peter ran into Tony's open arms and hugged him fiercely.

"Why didn't you tell me it was you?" 

"Timelines, causality, fate of the world. You needed to send me that last letter. I didn't want to mess up the timeline but I'm here now."

"But you kept telling me that time travel wouldn't work this way."

"I've been rudely informed that I should have been saying the science doesn't work this way. Apparently, I forgot to consider an entirely different and somewhat obscure field of study that can also be applied to time travel." 

Peter gave a choked giggle, eyes wet with tears. "So explain it to me. How are you here?"

Tony lead Peter to the bench and they sat down together. Peter kept his arms wrapped around Tony the whole while, unable and unwilling to let go, even for a second. Peter rested his head against Tony's chest. He could feel Tony's heart rate slowly easing and the tension he'd been carrying around with him uncoiled for the first time in what felt like forever. Tony began carding his fingers through Peter's hair.

"Well," Tony began. "If I understand Dr Strange's deranged babblings correctly, it was some kind of teleportation spell but it's usually only for a very short jump back in time and space. Essentially, you take an object from a place and put the spell on it, then when the spell is activated by burning the object, it transports you back to the last time you were at that place with that object."

"Wait, let me get this straight in my head. The object that transported you to the library was..."

"Your last letter, which I had tucked under my suit during the final battle. The pages contained a strong energy signature of the library, from spending years sitting on dusty shelves, and it had my energy signature from when I ripped them out of the book." 

"What? Energy signatures? Like in Star Trek?"

"Strange said traces of our etheric body- god I feel sick just using those words- remain for a time on everything we touch. They hold some kind of energy field that acts as an auric blueprint for our physical bodies. Honestly, I stopped listening for most of it, he was starting to grate. Anyway, he claimed that on my death, my etheric body would ordinarily dissipate and render all spells useless, but it didn't dissipate from the pages because the me who touched them before the spell was cast wasn't dead. The spell activated on barbecue me, using living me's auric blueprint and thus barbecue me was reconstituted in the library."

"Reconstituted?"

"Like a juice. Just add matter." 

"You said the spell causes a jump back in time but the pages pulled you forward. How can you be pulled to somewhere in the future that you've never been to before?" 

"Ahh, but as far as the pages were concerned, I had been there before. When I ripped them out of the book and gave them to you."

Peter's face lit up in understanding. "Of course, a causal loop! Like Ben's watch. It had to happen that way because it had already happened that way."

"And so the ouroboros eats its own tail. Strange said no sorcerer he knows has the power to wield the kind of magic needed to pull all this off but someone did it."

Peter was quickly putting two and two together.

"It was Morgan! Her drawings! She cast the spell. Was she responsible for the mailbox too? Oh my god, it was her idea to write to you."

"Yep, I'd say it was Little Miss Le Fey's doing. My plan now is to go home and ask my beloved daughter what the hell kind of games she's been playing. Don't worry, it shouldn't be too difficult to drag it out of her. She'll give up all her secrets for chocolate cake."

They stood and Tony threw his arm across Peter's shoulders as they walked slowly back to the lake house. 

"I can't believe I didn't recognize you. Now that I know, it feels so obvious," Peter said in wonder.

"You'd be surprised how much the lack of a beard throws people. I shaved it all off once and Morgan started screaming when she saw me. Plus, I'm practically an infant now. Thank god I don't need to go through puberty again. "

Tony stopped short with a bark of laughter before shaking his head and continuing.

Peter looked over. "What?"

"Pepper gets to play cougars after all. I told her she'd regret introducing that word to Morgan!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just end a Lake House ripoff with a scene from Chances Are? Yes! Yes I did!


	9. Epilogue or Prologue?

_.....The combined energy of the infinity stones snaked out and in and around his gauntlet. They flared, their colours running down his arm and into his chest plate. Tony could feel his nano housing unit spark and overload....._

_.....Pepper swung her arm back and Happy ducked, anticipating a hit, but instead she pitched the housing unit out over the lake. It sailed in a wide arc before dropping with a plunk to join Tony's memorial wreath at the bottom....._

_.....He wiped away the stray tears that had once again escaped before looking back over to Morgan. She was playing in the water with something metal in her hand. _   
_"What have you got there, Missy? Come bring it over." Morgan stomped up to him, pouting at the interruption of her playtime. She held out her hand and presented him with his suit's nano housing unit....._

**Morgan, 2021**

Morgan was playing in the shallows of the lake when she heard the voices of mermaids singing to her. She followed the beautiful calls until she spotted a yellow light coming up from out of the water. She waded over to it and saw the glow was emanating from a piece of metal. As she stretched out her hand towards it, sparks of purple energy crackled and danced, giving her fingers a painful zap. She jerked back with a gasp. The glow faded. Morgan stared at it for a moment before curiosity won out. She recognized it as her dad's old nano housing unit. As she picked it up, trace residual energy from the infinity stones snaked out and in and around her arms. Then a beam of green light shot out. She watched in horror as it hit Ralph, the dog disappearing, before narrowly missing her dad and instead hitting the mailbox with curling tendrils. Morgan's eyes flared orange.


End file.
